Early years leadership

As an early years leader the key to good quality leadership is setting high standards of care. As well as having a clear, ambitious vision which promotes a strong safeguarding culture.

Birth to 5 matters remind us that the 4 principles of the EYFS thread through leadership and quality improvement, just as they apply to young children. Quality improvement and leadership – Birth To 5 Matters

In summary:

every setting is unique with its own strengths and challenges. A good leader recognises and celebrates this, offering tailored provision to meet the needs of their children and families
forming positive relationships with practitioners, families, and other agencies is key to fostering trusting and collaborative working relationships which impact children positively
practitioners need an enabling environment where they feel safe and a sense of belonging. They need opportunities to embed and extend their own learning
a good leader will empower others to reflect on practice and continue to learn and develop their thinking around early years themes ensuring we are doing our very best for children and families

The following resources have been chosen to support your leadership journey.

Quality improvement

This Ofsted Grade descriptor tool (Word) is designed for you to reflect on current practice across the 4 themes that will form the main part of your Early years inspection. The purpose of this audit is to start to collect evidence as to how you meet the judgements as detailed in the Early Years inspection Handbook.

Quality of Education
Behaviour and Attitudes
Personal Development
Leadership and Management

Please note in regard to the effectiveness of your Safeguarding practice please complete the separate Safeguarding Self-Assessment Audit Tool found on the Worcestershire children first Early years website page under the 'Resources' tab.

This SMART target template has been designed to sit along your normal supervision processes. Use this in addition to your settings supervision paperwork to set practitioners clear targets which are specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and timely. A great tool to ensure you are building on what your staff know and can do whilst holding them to account. SMART target template (PDF)

This simple questionnaire is a great tool to use with children, families and practitioners. It asks participants to consider what they want you to start, stop or continue doing. It is designed to capture broad feelings about practice so you can then explore at a deeper level. Start, stop, continue questionnaire template (PDF)

This great guide offers leaders practical advice on how to identify and support poor mental health in the workplace. It considers how we can start conversations about mental health and how we can use tools such as the wellness action plan to support individuals in our team. Mental health at work - a guide for small businesses (PDF)

Ofsted

Ofsted is the regulatory body whose aim is to improve lives by raising standards in education and children’s social care. The following information relates to the role of Ofsted and how this impacts and supports early years provision.

Ofsted have published their long-term strategy which gives us an insight into their priorities for the next few years. Ofsted strategy 2022–27 (publishing.service.gov.uk)

Ofsted’s regulatory role involves sharing good practice through their early years blog and YouTube channels:

Welcome to Ofsted's early years blog - Ofsted: early years

Ofsted news - YouTube

The following documents will support your understanding of inspection and how to prepare:

Early years inspection handbook for Ofsted-registered provision - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

Information for parents about Ofsted's role in regulating childcare - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

Early years and childcare providers judged inadequate or not complying with requirements at inspection - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

During inspection the inspector will be gathering evidence to ensure the provider has an open and positive safeguarding culture that puts the interests of children first. Throughout the inspection they will refer to the document: Working Together to Safeguard Children 2023 (PDF).

It can be useful to look at recent Ofsted inspections to support your understanding of the process and see how reports are structured. Find an Ofsted inspection report - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

Recruitment

It is widely acknowledged that early years recruitment has been a challenge since Covid-19. However, it is important to recognise that this is not unique to early years, and in fact has affected many different sectors. Local support is therefore available through the following schemes.

Apprenticeships are a positive way to recruit the new wave of early years practitioners into the sector. Worcestershire Apprenticeships | Helping young people and employers achieve through Apprenticeships (worcsapprenticeships.org.uk)

Both Heart of Worcester and Kidderminster college offer an early years T Level qualification, a 2 year qualification which requires 750 hours of work placement. Working with the colleges to provide placements could give you access to newly qualified staff coming into the sector. Further Education | Heart of Worcestershire College (howcollege.ac.uk) Kidderminster College Website

Worcester youth hub is based at the Hive in Worcester and is aimed at supporting those aged 15-24 by offering career support and guidance. Reaching out to organisations such as this may support your recruitment program. Worcester Youth Hub Launched at The Hive - Worcestershire LEP (wlep.co.uk)

Similarly, Worcestershire jobs is a website that you could use to advertise positions. Local jobs, apprenticeships and training | Worcestershire Opportunities (worcestershirejobs.co.uk)

Check an early years qualification service

Early years managers can now use the new check an early years qualification digital service to quickly verify whether staff qualifications meet the requirements for staff to child ratios in England.

The new service can be accessed at: Check an Early Years qualification

This free GOV.UK tool allows managers to check a qualification’s approval status by entering key details such as:

course start date
level
awarding organisation

At the end of the process, a clear outcome is provided, which can be printed for your records.

Why use the new service?

Using the new Check an early years qualification service:

saves time during recruitment and HR processes
supports workforce planning ahead of the September 2025 expansion of funded childcare entitlements
reduces confusion when checking qualifications

The service is tailored specifically for early years managers. All other user groups (for example practitioners) should continue to use the Early Years Qualifications List (EYQL) to check qualifications, and contact our supplier Ecctis if they are unable to find the qualification on the EYQL.

The check an early years qualification service is for qualifications achieved in the UK. Holders of non-UK qualifications should continue to contact our supplier Ecctis for an assessment.

If you need help using the service you can contact the Department for Education. Thank you for your continued support of the sector.

Business Support

A practical guide to record keeping and the retention of records. Retention Periods for Records 2022.pdf (govdelivery.com)

The Information Commissioners Office (ICO) offers support and guidance in meeting your legal requirements when handling data. Information Commissioner's Office (ICO)

As a business, you are responsible to meet the legal requirements of employment law. Acas gives employees and employers free, impartial advice on workplace rights, rules and best practice. Acas | Making working life better for everyone in Britain

Worcestershire county council are dedicated to supporting local businesses develop and thrive. Business support and grants